This invention relates generally to a machine for harvesting crops in a field and, more particularly, to a disc cutterbar having an operating width greater than the width of the crop harvesting mechanism operating rearwardly of the disc cutterbar.
In modern crop harvesting machines, such as those having rotary disc cutterbars, the desire is to increase the width of cut of the machines to reduce the length of time the machine is operated in the field. Crop harvesting machines, such as those used to harvest hay and forage crops, typically have a conditioning mechanism mounted rearwardly of the crop cutting mechanism to crack the stems of the crop and enhance drying, as is well known in the art. The width of the conditioning rolls is limited due to manufacturing tolerances, operating tolerances and financial considerations. Accordingly, increasing the operating width of the cutting mechanism does not necessarily result in an equivalent increase in the width of the conditioning rolls.
Having the conditioning rolls with a transverse width less than the transverse cutting width of the disc cutterbar requires that the severed crop be conveyed laterally and inwardly for a distance before being fed rearwardly into the conditioning rolls. A number of devices have been created to effect the conveyance of this severed crop. One such mechanism can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,330, issued on Dec. 1, 1998. In this mechanism, the cutterbar is provided with short drums and baffles to direct the severed crop material into the conditioning mechanism. Augers or conveying belts could also be used behind the outboard disc cutters to provide a live wall that would convey the severed crop mechanically into the conditioning mechanism. Such devices, however, would be mechanically complex and, therefore, expensive to manufacture, maintain and operate.
Another such conveying mechanism can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,201, issued on Dec. 12, 2000, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,064, issued on Jul. 18, 1995, in which the outlying disc cutters are provided with a set of conveying drums some of which may be mounted between the disc cutters and independently driven to present a rotating wall that conveys the severed crop inwardly for feeding into the conditioning mechanism. In this particular configuration, the outlying disc cutters are co-rotated, i.e., rotated in the same direction so that the severed crop material is directed inwardly from the beginning.
In one known configuration, a drive shaft mechanism depends downwardly fromn the superstructure of the cutterbar to pass through one of the disc cutters and provide driving power to the cutterbar, similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,822, issued on Jan. 19, 1993, to Kenneth W. McLean, et al. The positioning of this drive shaft mechanism further complicates the conveyance of severed crop toward the middle of the cutterbar. The rapidly rotating drive shaft is subject to being unbalanced from an accumulation of severed crop. One skilled in the art will recognize that the drive shaft mechanism will include universal joints to permit a flexible movement of the cutterbar relative to the superstructure from which the drive shaft mechanism depends. Mounting a drum on the disc cutter, as is known in the art, to be rotatable therewith does not present a viable solution to shielding the drive shaft mechanism as a large amount of internal clearance would be necessary due to the deflection of the top of the drum with even small movements of the disc cutterbar.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a device that would protect the drive shaft mechanism from being overloaded with severed crop material while providing assistance in conveying the severed crop inwardly for feeding into the conditioning mechanism around the corner defined by the barrier presented by the drive shaft mechanism providing rotational power to the disc cutterbar.
It is an object of this invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a crop conveying drum mounted to the drive shaft mechanism delivering rotational power to the disc cutterbar from an overhead implement superstructure.
It is an advantage of this invention that the rotating drum assists in conveying severed crop material inwardly for feeding to the conditioning mechanism.
It is a feature of this invention that the crop conveying drum is mounted directly to the drive shaft mechanism to be rotatable therewith.
It is another advantage of this invention that the crop conveying drum can be formed with a smaller diameter than would be possible with the drum mounted directly to the disc cutter.
It is still another advantage of this invention that any crop accumulation within the conveying drum does not cause interference with the operation of the drive shaft mechanism.
It is another feature of this invention that the conveying drum rotate with the drive shaft mechanism so that there is no relative rotational movement therebetween.
It is still another feature of this invention that there is no horizontal movement of the crop conveying drum relative to the drive shaft mechanism.
It is yet another advantage of this invention that the crop conveying drum protecting the drive shaft mechanism can be formed longer than would be possible with the drum mounted directly to the disc cutter because tipping motion of the drum is eliminated by mounting the drum directly to the drive shaft mechanism.
It is another object of this invention to provide a crop conveying drum that is operable to shed crop material accumulated therein.
It is yet another feature of this invention that the conveying drum is formed of two identical halves that are clamped to the drive shaft mechanism.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a crop conveying drum having an optimally compact construction.
It is another feature of this invention to provide an open drum construction to provide a passage for severed crop material to pass through without accumulating in the drum.
It is a further advantage of this invention that the severed crop material will not be permitted to accumulate within the drum to cause unbalance in the drive line.
It is still another feature of this invention that the drum is provided with slats on the outer periphery to provide aggressiveness in conveying severed crop material inwardly and reawardly around the drum.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a crop conveying drum for the universal joint drive line providing rotational power to a disc cutterbar which is durable in construction, inexpensive of manufacture, carefree of maintenance, facile in assemblage, and simple and effective in use.
These and other objects, features and advantages are accomplished according to the instant invention by providing a crop conveying drum for a drive disc cutter mounted directly to the drive shaft mechanism to provide rotational power to the cutterbar. The crop conveying drum is formed as mating segments, each forming a half of the drum. Each segment has a pair of support bars vertically oriented and extending between connecting flanges. A mounting bracket centrally supported by the vertical support bars is formed to partially wrap around the drive shaft mechanism. The mounting bracket has holes therein for the passage of fasteners to connect the drum segment directly to the drive shaft mechanism so that the crop conveying drum rotates with the drive shaft mechanism. Upper and lower mating connecting flanges are fastened together to form the entire crop conveying drum rotatable with the drive shaft. The crop conveying drum assists in conveying severed crop material laterally from outlying disc cutters that define a cutting width of the cutterbar that is greater than the operating width of the conditioning rolls. The crop conveying drum is formed in an open configuration to allow the passage of severed crop through the drum so that severed crop cannot accumulate on the drive shaft mechanism to cause an unbalance therein and premature failure of the universal joints due to the wrapping of crop material.